Apt!

- Friday, The 13th -

Sticking to the theme then..

Five Incessant Fears I Live With

1. Apathy - I no longer want to make a difference/change the world
   
2. All my closest friends would be married and the peer pressure builds while I continue to blindly pursue 'the perfect one' for me
3. Balding/Deteriorating Eyesight Combo
   
4. Alzheimer's.. My memories are too precious to me
5. Waking up in a coffin having been buried alive - bad case of claustrophobia

A bit morbid, that last one.. sorry!

*PVWOOOF!*

..That is the sound of my mind blowing up, having completely lost all ability to comprehend the current situation!

A little background:

So I am currently working for a premier investment company in Pakistan. We're part owned by a elite financial institution in Dubai and are responsible for having bagged some of the biggest deals in the country - the group has managed over 50% of all privatization in the country!

My Lahore office is in a posh location and the office building was originally supposed to be a five start hotel built on a traditional theme but that didn't work out for them. So I enjoy the luxury of a high security shiny office, complete with glass walls and wooden flooring.

The office building is a unique architectural marvel in Lahore

A part of the operations over here has to do with brokerage - the trading of shares on the stock exchange. So during market hours, the place is buzzing with investors and brokers. And to facilitate it all, they have a trading floor with nice comfy couches and a large projector screen that displays market trends and an LCD next to it playing business news.

Here's a scene from a lazy friday afternoon, post market closure:



The comfy couches and the projector screen are a winning formula for creation of a theater! There's an Indian movie playing and I am trying my best to not burst out into an amusing laughter. Of course like any responsible person, I instead have decided to shoot this secret vid! :) Footage starts from my cabin and then continues in the form of a virtual tour - sorry about the shaky footage and lack of commentary, but it was supposed to be discretely done! haha.

TGIF, people!

Center of the World

I figured I would just say it before you did! On a Friday evening, when you're publishing 3 posts at the same time, surely something IS outta control! haha!

Anyway, I felt the need to jot down a few thoughts on some recent stuff that I have been following in the political arena -

• The Democratic Party's Nomination for the American Presidency Saga
• The nonsensical political carom game in Pakistan where citizens are getting thrashed by political players with an ultimate aim of cornering them to succumb

I'll save discussion on the latter for another day, but the series of events following Obama's nomination have been quite thought provoking. Yes, the man can talk - for that alone, I'm a big fan. It isn't always easy to cut past the rhetoric and to decipher the content of his speeches in an accurate manner. Those that were watching are likely to agree that his presumptive nomination speech was remarkably moving indeed.

The very next morning, he gave a speech to AIPAC - the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. The timing was impeccable and his conduct predictable. Many people in this part of the world were angered by his approach to the Middle East crisis, especially in relation to a continued commitment to supply arms to Israel, to do 'everything' possible.. 'everything!' to purge the threat from Iran, and for calling Jerusalem the capital of Israel.

On closer inspection, though, certain key elements in the content of his speech become evident. While clearly he was giving in to the 'Special Interests' he so vehemently stood against throughout his campaign (yes, Mr Barack Hussein Obama, that was always gonna be a toughie!), he didn't quite say things that were essentially highlighted by the media as well as by anti-Israel/pro-Palestine people. If anything, the central message of his speech, to me, was focus on the fact that 'pro-Palestine' is not synonymous to 'anti-Israel'. We need to realize how deeply entrenched the roots of American Jews are in defining American foreign policy and anyone that expected him to have turned away from them is quite the fool.

Regardless, his central message was that of peaceful resolution through diplomacy, a separate state for Palestine and Israel, and an undivided Jerusalem.. There were certainly plenty of snippets that fired up the crowd, but filtering those away, relative to all other candidates in this race, he probably has the most mature stance on this issue.

It is this maturity and depth of thought as well as boldness to say it and sharpness to say it as well, that I respect about him. He's there to win an election, and he is doing what he needs to, while still preserving the values that he stands for. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for his campaign, the media and analysts will hail this as a pro-Zionism stance, but hey!

In the end, I reckon he will not even be as active a player of foreign policy as some might think - at least in his first time (assuming he gets elected and then stands for reelection), I see him pursuing a more isolationist policy as regards world affairs. I'm no guru, but I do hope that when he speaks of healing that nation and repairing this world, he has the resolve to stand by his belief!

.. And they return!

Friday 5ives and back with a vengeance!

Five Frustrating Arguments to have in Pakistan

1. Karachi or Lahore?
2. What time would you be back home tonight, son?
3. Is Musharraf's exit from the presidency good for the stock market?
4. Is America 'ready' to elect a black man or a woman?
5. A 'No' is a 'No', but what is an 'Oh' ?

Wall Street Fighters

Over the last few weeks, I was taking a break from status quo and decided to explore opportunities on the Wall Street of Pakistan - The I.I. Chundrigar Road in Karachi (above).


Being in Karachi is always a great experience, but it was especially awesome this time around simply because I really needed the break and I got it without feeling too guilty about it either. Working for a financial sector company, I was putting in some tough hours but there was ALWAYS something to look forward to every evening - from a theatre style arrangement for the Champions League final to concerts by emerging rock bands, this trip was buzzing with activity. (of course some of the more 'fun' parties are inappropriate for public consumption and are hence omitted for the purpose of this public domain! haha!)


One of the most sought after events in Karachi for me is a trip to the beach. I grew up next to the sea in Dubai and sinking my toes in the warm wet sand holds a very special place for me. Unfortunately, when you're in Karachi, going to the beach is not a simple affair.. Unless you want to go to the dangerously polluted beach at Seaview - many of us theorize that very soon that location will become the breeding ground for new lifeforms! A trip to the beach thus involves traveling for 1.5 hours to the more elite huts at French beach. Free from dead turtles and polythene bags, it's where the action is at.

Same City? Polluted seaside (above) and French Beach (below)

Also got a chance to rekindle my network as I met some of the more influential people I know from my association with them during the AIESEC term. I was pleasantly surprised by their willingness to meet me and spend long hours talking about life, the economy, personal and professional career shaping, and everything! Super awesome experience.

Now I'm back in Lahore at least for a few weeks, trying to create some headway in this market, at least for the next few weeks. Let's see!